Jane Harman resigned from Congress February 28, 2011 to join the Woodrow Wilson Center as its first female Director, President and CEO.

Representing the aerospace center of California during nine terms in Congress, she served on all the major security committees: six years on Armed Services, eight years on Intelligence, and eight on Homeland Security. During her long public career, Harman has been recognized as a national expert at the nexus of security and public policy issues, and has received numerous awards for distinguished service.

She is a member of the Defense Policy Board, the State Department Foreign Policy Board, and the Homeland Security Advisory Committee. She also serves on the Executive Committee of the Trilateral Commission and the Advisory Board of the Munich Security Conference.

Harman is a Trustee of the Aspen Institute and the University of Southern California. She is also a member of the Presidential Debates Commission.

A product of Los Angeles public schools, Harman is a magna cum laude graduate of Smith College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and Harvard Law School. Prior to serving in Congress, she was Staff Director of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, Deputy Cabinet Secretary to President Jimmy Carter, Special Counsel to the Department of Defense, and in private law practice.

"Online, we move too slowly and know too little to combat this generation of Web-native jihadists. We’ve failed to mobilize tech and messaging talent to counter the Islamic State on social media," writes Jane Harman. more

President Obama is holding a news conference today to highlight his support for the deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson speaks with Jane Harman, a former member of Congress, about the deal and the criticism the president has received over the agreement announced yesterday. more

Please join us on June 10 to celebrate the launch of the new Hyundai Motor–Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy. Made possible with the generous support of the Hyundai Motor Company and the Korea Foundation, the program will expand the Wilson Center's unique strengths and rich legacy of substantive and diverse programming on Korea. more

In his new book, Is the American Century Over?, world renowned foreign policy analyst, Joseph Nye, tackles that big question and concludes that theories of U.S. decline may be premature. He argues that while America’s super power status is being challenged by the “rise of the rest” and other realities, that doesn’t necessarily mean that we are entering a post-American world. And Wilson Center President , Jane Harman proposes that it might be more accurate to think of America as the “indispensable partner” instead of as the “indispensable nation.” Their discussion provides the focus for this edition of REWIND. more

The formation of the new Netanyahu Government raises a great many questions about its policies and prospects. In this podcast conversation, two veteran analysts and scholars of Israeli politics and diplomacy assess and discuss. more

"Today, lawmakers worldwide are sleepwalking through a privacy and security crisis. How many secure sites have to be compromised before we wake up to the full challenges posed by commercial and law enforcement UAVs – or, in common parlance, by drones?" writes Jane Harman. more

Three distinguished authors and specialists on Iran discuss the achievements of the renowned artist, Shirin Neshat, whose work articulates, in original, imaginative art, the cultural and political dilemmas facing women in a society seeking to navigate the crossroads of Islam and the West. This meeting is the first of two meetings on Shirin Neshat’s artwork. more

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"At a time when too many see U.S. foreign policy in kinetic terms, like drones or special ops, the 'soft power diplomacy' of disaster relief delivers life-saving help to desperate people, and improves their image of America," writes Jane Harman in The Huffington Post.

The hemorrhaging leaks by Edward Snowden has the U.S. government reeling, writes Jane Harman in The Washington Post, but it is time that the U.S. explains what we do—and what we won’t do—to rebuild shattered trust between our country and other world leaders.

"Security and liberty are reinforcing values: we either get more of both, or less of both. Done right, government policies and laws that make the nation more secure – like those authorizing electronic surveillance – should not undermine our constitutional rights," writes Jane Harman in The New Republic.

Fifteen students from the China Women’s University visited the Wilson Center where they discussed their action plans and reflected on the transformative impact of the Women in Public Service Institute on their university.

“I think urging the U.N. immediately to investigate this is right action number one and then, two, mobilizing the entire world community. If there was a massive use of chemical weapons, that should be a rallying cry for the world to get involved,” said Jane Harman on Andrea Mitchell Reports.

"Security and liberty are not a zero-sum game. We either get more or less of both....Curtailing tactics that inflame alienated populations, while enhancing techniques that help us find those among us who are radicalized, gives us far better odds of reducing risk," argues Jane Harman.

Jane Harman and Zbigniew Brzezinski debate a U.S. intervention in Syria on Morning Joe. "I hope we have a strategy to work this out diplomatically with the Russians on the other side and the leader is moved out even if he stays in country and another transitional government takes his place,” said Jane Harman.

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General John Allen, recently appointed Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, was selected by President Obama to coordinate the international effort against the Islamic State militant group. Join us for General Allen’s first public discussion of the threat posed by the Islamic State.

This event takes place in the Dirksen Senate Office. America has been continuously at war since the fall of 2001. A sizable percentage of American soldiers sent overseas in this era have been women. Surrounded and far outnumbered by men, working within a predominantly male culture, women have experiences of special interest. In Soldier Girls, Helen Thorpe follows the lives of three women over twelve years on their paths to the military, overseas to Afghanistan, and back home…and then overseas again to Iraq. Please join us for a discussion of the experiences of women in the military with journalist and author Helen Thorpe and two of the soldiers in her book.

Please join the Wilson Center for a discussion with Ambassador Michael Froman, U.S. Trade Representative, about the “strategic logic of trade”: how U.S. trade policy is strengthening U.S. partners and allies; promoting broad-based, inclusive development; and setting guidelines for engaging with critical regions in flux.

The disappearance of 43 students after clashes with police in Iguala, Mexico has left Mexicans horrified and outraged, and has led to nationwide protests. Join us by phone for a discussion of these events, the response by the government and by society, and the impact on Mexico’s international image with two experts on the ground.

Thirteen years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States is unambiguously at war with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). But when did Congress declare this new war – if it is a new one? According to some members of Congress, the answer is “not yet.” According to the White House, the answer is “more than a decade ago.

The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and the United States Department of Energy Office of Science, in partnership with the Wilson Center's Brazil Institute, held an all-day symposium on collaborative research projects led by scientists in the state of São Paulo, Brazil and in the U.S., targeting the discovery of new science about the Amazon.

The world’s major powers (the P5+1) and Iran have been negotiating since last January to convert an interim nuclear accord into a final agreement, and now face a November 24 deadline. As this critical date nears, please join us for this meeting to address the outcome of the negotiations—whether successful in yielding an agreement, extended to allow further negotiations, or at a point of breakdown. What are the implications for U.S. policy toward Iran moving forward, as well as for the broader global effort to forestall the proliferation of nuclear weapons? This event honors the late Michael Adler, distinguished journalist and Public Policy Scholar at the Wilson Center, whose illuminating work improved the quality of public discourse on this vital issue.

There is much riding on the early parliamentary elections in Ukraine on October 26. Ukrainians face an ongoing war despite the tenuous ceasefire in the Donbas region, and severe economic pressures. The desperate need for reform is still at the top of the agenda for Maidan activists who overthrew the Yanukovych regime in February, and for the international community which has pledged to support Ukraine financially through the difficult months ahead. How can the new Rada to be elected this Sunday make meaningful progress in the face of these daunting challenges?

The Predator was transformed in a shockingly short time from a flimsy remote-control airplane with a camera under its chin to the first killing device whose users could stalk and annihilate a targeted individual on the other side of the world from a position of utter invulnerability. Join us as author Richard Whittle and former National Security Council counter-terrorism senior adviser, Richard Clarke, discuss this controversial topic with the release of Whittle's new book: Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution.

As the Obama Administration seeks to fashion a policy to counter ISIS, it confronts a complex situation on the ground, particularly in Syria. Three analysts and experts discuss the military/political landscape in Syria and the challenges it poses.

A panel of experts, including R. Gil Kerlikowske, Director of Drug Control Policy at the White House, discusses reforming current policies combating illegal drugs in the United States and Latin America.